Otherwise Engaged
by CatsBalletHarveySpecter
Summary: Post 904. A follow-up to Harvey's accidental proposal.


Hi all! This is my quick take on a post 904 story but it ended up going somewhere different than intended. It's a little dialogue heavy but the goal was to make it light and fun, rather than heavily romantic.

It's short, sweet and to the point but can you believe we live in a world where these two accidentally pretty much get engaged?! I couldn't help myself tossing an old friend in the mix too, we all know he would have loved this moment as much as we did.

Happy Reading - S

* * *

**Otherwise ****Engaged**

She lay awake staring at the ceiling, his arm wrapped around her waist, face snuggled into her the space between her neck and shoulder. She knows she should get some sleep but so much had happened today and she was processing. Between Harvey making things right with her father and meeting his mother, she was emotionally drained. While meeting Lily had been incredible, their conversation from before was what played on a loop through her mind.

_You know we're going to be together forever_

Him admitting he'd thought about the way she would want him to ask her.

Did she really tease him about them being engaged? She'd been too distracted to follow up with her question after the call with Lily ended but now that she had some time to think, did Harvey just promise her forever?

.

.

"Hey Rach. I know I just left a message last night but call me when you get this. I have news. Or, I have almost news… I'm not sure. Anyways, I love you, call me, bye!"

She hangs up the phone and places it down on the counter where she's sipping at her morning coffee, her knees tucked up against her chest. She considered waking him, but after the long night they had, she figured he needed some rest.

"Who was that?" he smiles, yawning as he shuffles from the bedroom to the coffee maker in his boxers and an old Harvard t-shirt that matched the over-sized long-sleeve Donna was wearing.

"No one." She smiles and points him to the mug she's already made for him.

He cocks his head in response and she concedes, "Rachel"

"Didn't you just talk to her yesterday?"

"What, I'm not allowed to talk to my best friend more than one day in a row?" she teases, and he plops himself into the seat next to her.

"Alright, alright fair point, take it easy," he holds up his hands as if to say he surrendered and leans over to place a kiss on her forehead with a mumbled "good morning"

He turns his attention back to his coffee and she begins to speak, "Yesterday was…"

"I know"

"I loved your mom."

"I always knew you two would get along. Maybe even get along a little too well" he smirks, taking a seat beside her.

"You've told her about me in the past?"

"Years ago, I told her someone special made me realize I should try and fix my relationship with her. Yesterday I told her that someone special was you." He answers, making her cheeks flush to match the colour of her hair. Her heart flutters at his use of the term someone special and she grips at her coffee mug a little harder to steady her already racing heart.

"Did you know she and Marcus were secretly rooting for us?"

"I figured Gordon had rubbed off on Marcus at some point" she laughs, tossing her hair back over her shoulder.

"What?" he stares back at her with confused eyes.

"It's just, your dad used to always tell me how happy I made you and that he hoped one day we would see it…"

"He did? He used to say it to me all the time, but I had no idea he told you, why didn't you tell me?"

"It was our little secret. Every time he called the office, he would ask me if you'd smartened up and made an honest woman out of me yet" she smiles as she recalls all of the phone conversations she'd had with Gordon over the years.

"If he could see us now, I know he would be so happy for us" Harvey reaches for her hand, a small tight-lipped small gracing his lips.

"He was a good man, Harvey."

"He was."

They sit in a comfortable silence for a moment while sipping their coffees when Donna suddenly can't help herself from bringing up the only thing that has been on her mind since she got out of bed this morning.

"Yesterday, when you said we're going to be together forever," she begins, studying the shift in his facial expression as he turns to face her.

"Yes?" he teases, willing her to keep going.

"What did you? I mean…are we?" she fumbles with the words once again and his smirk grows at her fluster.

"Do you want us to be?"

"Are you asking me?"

"How about this," he says, taking her hand and placing it in his own, "Donna, I am going to ask you to marry me and when I do, I'd really like it if you said yes."

She gulps, the directness of his statement and softness playing at the corners of his sleepy eyes sending a chill coursing through her body.

"Harvey, I'm going to say yes" she squeezes his palm, doing her best to fight back the tears she knows are only seconds away from falling.

"Okay."

"Okay."

They finish their coffee in silence, both sporting massive grins and she wonders if he can hear how rapidly her heart is beating from where he is. As they get ready for the day, she notices how light his step seems, how calm he appears to be despite the never-ending war they were about to walk into at the firm. She smiles to herself because she feels the same way, light, care-free and unbothered. She had the man she'd spent the better part of a decade loving, the suddenly emotionally available man who introduced her to his mother, made things right with her father and spent the night ravishing her by her side and she felt like she was walking on air.

She was on a natural high and she wasn't planning on coming down anytime soon. The last time she felt these stereotypical teenage butterflies was the first time he told her he loved her. He said those three little words like they were the easiest words in the world to say out loud and her heart lurched; she felt like a lovesick teenager all over again.

.

.

.

_"God, I couldn't love you more" he laughed as she pouted over the pot of pasta she burnt._

_Turning away from the burnt mess that littered the stove she faced him with wide eyes._

_"What?"_

_Panicking upon realizing he'd never said it to her before (other than in hushed, whispered tons in the bedroom) he flounders for the right words. He considers taking it back, pretending he never said it but looking at her in her sweats, pouting about the dinner she ruined, he knew he meant what he said, even if it just kind of, slipped out._

_Allowing his gaze to meet hers, he finds her eyes filled with hope and he suddenly wishes he'd told her sooner._

_"I love you" he practically whispers, taking a step towards where she's leaning with her back to the counter._

_"Say it again" she whispers, partly wanting to make sure she heard him correctly, but mostly wanting to hear the words come out of his mouth again._

_"I love you, Donna" he repeats, closing the distance between them, hands settling on either side of her waist on the counter as his lips find hers. When they finally part he rests his nose against hers and brings his hands to rest on her hips._

_She peers up at him and a smile creeps across her face as she whispers, "I love you too."_

_._

.

They stroll into the office side by side, only stopping once they reach her office where he gives her a peck on the cheek and tells her to have a good day. Office PDA was typically something they'd been avoiding but today felt different, so they made an exception. Alone in her office she pulls her cellphone out of her bag and sees several missed messages from Rachel.

_Two calls in less than 12 hours and then you disappear? Is everything alright? -R_

She quickly dials Rachel who breathes a sigh of relief to hear that Donna was alright.

"I swear Donna you scared me! I was about to text you that Harvey better have proposed with a flash mob or something for you to call me and disappear like that!"

"Well…." Donna replies sheepishly.

"Shut up! He didn't?!"

"Well technically, he hasn't yet. But he's going to…"

"Wait, what!?" her friend squeals into the receiver and Donna must calm her down before she begins to recall the events of the past 24 hours to her best friend.

When she finally finishes filling Rachel in, she leans back in her chair and takes a breath, giving Rachel time to process all the information she was just given.

"You're going to say yes though, right?" is the only thing Rachel manages to say, at a loss for words. She'd known Harvey a long time and never in a million years did she peg him as a romantic. Based on what Donna just told her, she was shocked to learn the man had a massive soft side.

"Of course, I told him I would say yes" Donna smiles into the phone.

"If you know he's going to ask, and he knows you're going to say yes, aren't you two pretty much as good as engaged?" Rachel points out, "I mean, minus the ring part."

"Minus the ring part, I guess so" Donna beams, and even through the phone her best friend can tell how happy she is.

"I'm so happy for you guys Donna! Promise me you'll come visit once he does it, I want to see the ring!"

"I promise we'll be on a flight to Seattle as soon as it happens."

.

.

**One week later…**

"Honey, I'm home!" she sarcastically exclaims as she tosses the key to his apartment on the table and steps out of her heels. Her day had been exhausting, the firm facing one problem after another and she couldn't wait to pour herself a glass of wine and head to bed. Padding down the hall barefoot, she doesn't hear him anywhere and wonders if maybe he'd stopped somewhere on his way home from the office.

Rounding the corner into the kitchen, a flickering light in his bedroom catches her eye, causing her to reroute and turn towards his bedroom.

"In here!" he calls from the other side of the semi-open door, the flickering light reflecting off of the walls in the hallway, scattering across the floor to illuminate it with a sequence of random patterns.

Pushing the door open, she's greeted by a sea of candlelight, a fresh floral scent filling the air as she takes in his room, dressers covered in an assortment of candles. Her eyes settle on him, seated in the middle of the bed wearing that massive smile she loved so much. She catches a soft jazz tune and notices his record player set up in the corner of the room, the gentle notes and soothing sounds of Miles Davis filling the air.

"What is all this?" she asks, wandering towards one of the record player, watching as its spinning caused one of the candle's light to dance across his bedroom wall.

"I knew you had a long day so I figured I would surprise you" he smiles, patting the bed next to him, signalling for her to join him.

Crawling over the sheets, she settles next to him and pulls him down to her for a kiss that he quickly deepens, allowing her to push him onto his back, straddling him.

"You're just full of surprises lately, aren't you?" she sighs into his mouth.

"This is nothing" he smirks before wrapping his arms around her waist and flipping her beneath him.

.

The next morning, she finds herself replaying the events of the previous night while she curled her hair and got ready for work. The candles, the surprise box of chocolates, the whipped cream. The absence of a ring. She tried to hide her disappointment when she woke up in his arms this morning and realized that the evening didn't go where she expected it to. Not that she was complaining, the romantic gesture was incredibly sweet, but when she saw the candles, she thought this was it. Waking up with an empty left hand, she realized she'd gotten her hopes up.

She doesn't want to tell him how to do this, but it had been a week since their accidental, almost engagement and she was impatiently waiting for him to ask. She was dying to share the news, but she told herself, and Harvey, that she would wait until it was official. Official, what did that even mean? As far as she was concerned, the moment the words together forever left his lips, her heart was his. Her heart was his long before that, but that was the moment she knew they were on the same page, this was it for them.

If she knew Harvey, and she knew Harvey, she knew that he was trying to do something that would surprise her, so she reminded herself to be patient. She was going to spend the rest of her life with him, and she knew that with him, it was always worth the wait.

.

.

"Excuse me sir, does the nursing home know you're here?"

"I'm sorry can I help-" he looks and sees Mike at his door and gets up to greet him.

"I really have to tell my secretary he can't just let anyone in here" Harvey teases, pulling Mike in for a one-armed hug.

"Speaking of secretary's, how's your former one?" he smirks at his former mentor, "About time," he adds with a pat on Harvey's back.

"What are you doing here?" Harvey smiles, unable to hid how happy he is to see his friend.

"Haven't you heard? I'm representing Anderson's Plaster" Mike answers with a proud grin.

"You're the opposition on my case?"

"I believe the first lawyer on the other side is Samantha Wheeler."

"We're both on it" Harvey explains.

"Even better, two birds, one stone."

"I take it you haven't had the pleasure of meeting Samantha yet?" Harvey chuckles, picturing his former associate heading into a meeting with Samantha wearing his new cocky, over-confident attitude.

"If she's anything like you, I can't wait to kick some ass" Mike quips.

"Still the same cocky son-of-a-bitch I see" Harvey laughs.

"I learned from the best."

"I'm not sure how long you're planning on being in town, but why don't you join Donna and I for dinner?"

"A dinner date with mom and dad, I wouldn't miss it" Mike beams, tucking his hands into his pockets with a youthful smile.

"I take that back, you're uninvited and don't ever refer to me as your dad again" Harvey rolls his eyes at the younger man.

"So, 7 o'clock?" Mike calls as he excuses himself from Harvey's office.

"Don't be late!" Harvey calls after him.

.

.

Mike arrives at Harvey's before Donna, and Harvey leads him to the kitchen for a drink. Peering around the room, Mike can't help but notice how things around Harvey's apartment have changed since the last time he was here. For starters, there were several potted plants scattered around the place, all alive and thriving, something he knew was Donna's doing. He spotted a sticky note with her handwriting on the fridge, reminding Harvey to pick up vanilla and a pile of candles on the counter.

"What's with all the candles?" Mike asks, taking the second glass of scotch from Harvey's hand and taking a small sip.

"It was a surprise I had planned for Donna," he explains, "She had a long week last week."

"I never would have pegged you for a romantic, next thing you know you'll be asking her to marry you" Mike snickers and Harvey's face pales as he struggles to swallow the gulp of scotch he nearly choked on at Mike's words.

"You haven't asked her to marry you, have you?" Mike stares back wide-eyed, placing his own drink down on the counter.

"Not in so many words" Harvey mumbles, refusing to meet Mike's gaze and fiddling with his glass.

"What do you mean, not in so many words?" Mike presses.

"I told her that I was going to propose," Harvey elaborated, still unable to bring himself to look at Mike in fear his friend will tease him for his accidental proposal.

"Was this before or after the candle thing?"

"Before, why?"

"You're an idiot" Mike scoffs and Harvey finally glares over at him, so Mike continues, "You told Donna you were going to ask her to marry you, and then set up a whole bunch of candles for her, and didn't propose. I bet you she thought…"

"Holy shit, I never even thought about that. I've just been waiting for the right time, and for the ring to be ready, I didn't even think to consider she'd be expecting it."

"So, you're really going to ask her to marry you?" Mike breaks into a grin, changing the subject to a more light-hearted one.

"The second that ring is in my hand" he smiles back.

"Who are you, and what have you done with Harvey Specter?" Mike teases and Harvey can't help but shake his head and smile. The kid had a point, a year ago he never could have imagined himself talking about marriage, now here he was, racking his brain for the perfect way to ask Donna to spend the rest of her life with him.

"I'm happy for you Harvey" Mike raises his glass towards Harvey's.

"How are you going to do it?" Mike asks before the sound of Donna's keys hitting the hall table interrupt their conversation.

Both Harvey and Mike fall silent at the sound of her heels hitting the floor as she makes her way to the kitchen, staring at each other like deer in the headlights.

"Don't stop talking now" she smiles as she appears in the kitchen, blue wrap dress accenting her red curls, her smile radiant.

"Mike" she greets him with a hug.

"Donna" he places a kiss on her cheek, "You look amazing. Harvey knows you're out of his league, right?"

"Still standing right here" Harvey chimes in, snaking his arm around Donna's waist and placing a kiss into her temple.

"Well aren't you two just the cutest things," Mike smirks and Harvey releases his grip on Donna's waist and pours her a drink.

"I'm going to start dinner, I'll leave you girls to catch up" he winks at her and moves past them to the fridge.

"Fine by me, Donna can tell me all about this new soft Harvey."

"I have not gone soft!"

"Whatever you say, old man" Mike laughs and trails after Donna into the living room.

Left alone to prepare dinner, Harvey begins to think about what Mike said about Donna expecting him to propose. When he set up those candles for her, the thought never even crossed his mind but the more he thought about it, the more he realized Mike was right. He wanted to surprise her with his proposal, to do something that would take her breath away, but he was having a hard time thinking of something that would catch her off guard. The ring would be ready any day now and he didn't want to wait much longer; he'd already wasted enough time. He mulled over possible ideas as he began preparing the pasta sauce, but everything was too cheesy, too predictable or just downright boring. He wanted this to be a moment memorable and he was drawing blanks left right and center.

"Harvey did you really go to couples therapy with Louis?!" Mike calls from the other room, interrupting his thoughts.

.

.

Her day had been a nightmare once again, despite Faye claiming to have laid off, she seemed to be dealing with a never-ending stream of associate problems. Tossing her hair back in a ponytail, a rare occurrence, she was buried in a stack of paperwork when he knocked on her door hands tucked behind his back, mischievous grin plastered across his face.

"Hey" he smiles over at her once she looks up from the age she was highlighting.

"Hey" she responds, studying the glee-filled smug expression on his face, "What are you up to?"

"Just thought I'd bring you these" he reveals the sunflowers he'd been hiding behind his back.

"Harvey," she smiles, moving to take the bouquet from his hands and placing it down on her desk, "You didn't have to get me flowers."

"I didn't have to, but I wanted to."

Stepping towards him she reaches out and adjusts his tie, an old habit she'd never quite broke and he relaxes into her touch. The sudden romantic gestures were still something she wasn't quite used to, but they never failed to bring a smile to her face. Releasing her hold on his tie, she returns to her desk and reaches for the flowers, admiring the shades of yellow and tangerine that brightened her office.

"Are we still on for dinner later?" he asks as he turns to leave her office.

"Absolutely"

"Oh, and Donna…" he calls.

Pausing to turn back towards her he notices his shoe is untied so he drops to his knee to fix the laces, quickly tying them into a bow before returning to his feet.

Her heart stops for a moment when he drops to his knee and for a brief second, she thinks that maybe this is it. That the flowers were not just a random act to make her smile but a segway into a very important question she'd been waiting to be asked. It would make sense to do it here, wouldn't it? After all, their relationship started as a working one and so many of their major milestones happened here. They'd shared so many moments at the office, it would make sense. Her breath hitches in her throat in the same instance her heart flutters but they both resume to normal paces when she realizes why he's on one knee in her office, the untied culprit staring her in the face.

"Don't forget to order the extra egg rolls" he finishes his sentence as he scrambles to his feet and leaves her office with a grin and a small wave.

Right, the egg rolls, she sighs to herself.

.

.

After their Sunday morning stroll through the park, Harvey hops in a quick shower while Donna begins to make them an afternoon coffee. When he's finally clean and dressed, he makes his way to the kitchen and finds her pouring vanilla into two coffee mugs. He watches as her hip grazes the counter top when she reaches for the sugar, allowing his eyes to move from her waist to her bare legs.

"What are you staring at?" she teases him, calling over her shoulder before grabbing both mugs and placing them on the kitchen island.

"Just appreciating the view" he smirks, and he can't help but think he's the luckiest man on the planet. Somehow, she manages to pull of everything, sporty, casual, formal, and he's in awe of how everything hugs her body so naturally.

It wasn't just the outfits that she pulled off, it was the messy hair styles and the way the freckles danced across her face and spilled over her shoulders. It was the way she always fought him over the remote and how she always put his coffee in the same mug because he had once told her it reminded him of her on nights she wasn't here. The way she danced like a fool in the living room when she thought he wasn't home, sang into her hairbrush while getting ready and recited Shakespeare in the shower.

She was a marvel and he found himself staring at her as she stirred more vanilla into her coffee, wondering what took him so long to see it. To see the way she perfectly complimented him, playing both good cop and bad cop while encouraging him to be himself. The way the notes she left around his apartment for him to find made his heart swell or how the stole glances of him during meetings painted his face with a smile. The way she was always there for him. The little things he once took for granted suddenly didn't seem so little and in this moment, watching her smile as she makes them coffee in her casual running shorts, hair tossed back in a messy bun, face free of makeup, that he knew he couldn't wait another second. This moment right here, where nothing was different from their usual Sunday morning routine, reminded him that the perfect moment was any moment that he shared with her.

Without any hesitation, he makes his way to the bedroom and grabs the box he had tucked away, placing it in his pocket. He was glad he picked the ring up earlier this week and having it custom made was worth the wait. It was a classic ring, princess cut diamond and a white gold band, simple, elegant and he knew she would love it, but he wanted to add something to it that made it more personal, more them. It was that night, after hanging up the phone with his mom that it hit him, the perfect way to customize her eventual engagement ring; picking it up, he knew he'd made the right decision.

He steady's his breath before returning to the kitchen, where she was now cutting up fruit over the counter, her back turned to him. Clearing his throat, he catches her attention and she turns around to face him.

"Where did you run off to?" she smiles.

"I had to grab something" he answers, taking a few steps in her direction as she peers up at him beneath her eyelashes.

"Okay. Well I was thinking that for lunch we could make…" she begins to ramble on about potential lunch options, turning back towards the fruit on the counter when the sound of his voice causes her to stop and turn to face him once again.

"Donna…" he calls her, waiting until she turned back around.

Dropping to one knee, he fishes around in his pocket for the little blue box and watches as her hands come up to cover her mouth.

"I was trying to come up with the perfect way to do this, and that's when it hit me; any way I do this will be perfect because I get to marry you."

"You're assuming I'll say yes" she smirks down at him, her eyes twinkling from the tears that are threatening to spill.

"Haven't you already?" he jokes, and she can't help but choke out a small chuckle.

"Donna…"

"Yes" she answers before he has a chance to ask.

He's up on his feet in an instant, taking her in his arms and sealing the deal with a kiss, cupping her tear-stained cheeks in his hands.

"You didn't even let me finish asking" he whispers, her hands wrapped around his neck, his wrapped around her back, anchoring her closer to him.

He releases his hold on her and uses his thumb to wipe away her tears before taking her hands in his and continuing in a hushed tone, "Will you marry me?"

She whispers a yes before he takes her left hand and slips the ring on it.

"You do know that this means we're going to be together forever, right?"

"I wouldn't have it any other way" she cries before his lips crash into hers and he backs her towards the counter, desperate to feel her body against his, his tongue slipping past hers with ease as he deepens the kiss.

.

.

When he joins her back in bed after grabbing two glasses of water, he catches her staring at her ring, watching as it reflects the light from the lamp on the bedside table. Slipping into bed beside her, he wraps an arm around her waist and pulls her into his side, placing a kiss on her forehead.

"I'm going to remember this day for the rest of my life" he grins, wrapping his arms around her and nuzzling his head into her neck.

"You may have given me a ring today, but I'm considering the other time our official engagement date" she smiles, staring down at the diamond gracing her left hand.

"You are?"

"When I asked you if we were engaged, I would've accepted yes as an answer."

"That wasn't how I planned on asking you, you know? All the times I thought about how and when I would do it, that never even made the list."

"Exactly, that's why it was perfect" she grins into a kiss.

"I meant what I said that night, about us being together forever" he says, allowing his fingers to trace down her bare arms towards her left hand.

"Look at the inside of your ring" he instructs, hand settling on her wrist.

Sliding the ring off her finger she flips it over to reveal an inscription along the inside of the band and tears immediately begin to form.

"You're really trying to make me cry, aren't you?"

"The ring was just making it official; I agree with you. I say we go with the other time as our official engagement date" he replies.

"I love you" she whispers practically into his mouth, his lips already lingering on hers.

"I love you too" he replies as she peers down at her ring on last time before slipping it back onto her finger and squealing as Harvey propped himself above her while never breaking their kiss.

She can't help but smile into his kiss as she thinks about the ring she just slid back onto her finger, the ring with an inscription that read.

_Together Forever. 7/8/19_

Fin xx


End file.
